Section 14-3
We can all agree that when we were born we have no recollection of it what so ever. As time passes, our body's and brain's develop. We begin to learn things and store them in our magnificent evolutionary minds. These things or moments in life are our memories.
Do you think memories make-up who we are today? John Locke thinks so. He believed that the mind of a newborn is a blank state and all of our knowledge comes from our experiences in life. Some in my group agreed that people change over time but we still have the same morals and beliefs we grew up with. There are some cases were some people don't change at all. For instance, facebook stalking is a great way to see if a person has changed or not. Some of you may still have friends that do the same dang thing since highschool. Then some of you will have friends that actually better themselves. They either moved away or got an awesome career going on. But does that answer the question? Do people really change?
Thomas Reid on the other hand felt that Locke went a bit far with his emphasis. He believed that personal identity relies on overlapping memories not on total recall of memories. Just because we don't remember something doesn't mean it isn't there anymore. Our brains can handle any amount of information. It's not like we have a set number a giga-bites lodged in our brains. For example, we have triggers in our senses that tells us of a memory that we probably have forgotten. There isn't one day were I go without triggering a memory from a smell, listening to a song or something I see.When looking back into your personal episodes of life, the more you talk about it the more you believe it. Also people tend to change small little details when talking about their life. Maybe people change their stories by not even realizing it or maybe they change it to make sound more epic.
Question: Would it be a good thing if we could all access our memories? The good and the bad?
I'll leave with this statement that Dr. Oliver said right before he left our group that I really liked. "Sometimes its good to live a happy illusion than to live with the literal hard truth."
Great summary Jessica! : ) Everybody has their own opinion about if people really change or not...Some say that people remain "essentially" the same. Others say that they change over time (it could be gradual or a major event that shakes up a person's life and changes them drastically...In my opinion I think it ultimately depends on the person, but also don't think a person can change completely just because of an event. If someone does change,it happens more gradually than anything.
ReplyDeleteI think people have "essentially" the same qualities as they get older, but their personality may change depending on environment, age, or relationships.
Dr. Phil's final quote was a great way to end class and to end your summary! Often times when I remember my own behavior (which made up who I was) a few years back, I can't help but see that there has been a drastic change. If you guys knew me at that time you would definitely understand what I'm talking about. Maintaining a sense of individualism should be an important focus for each of us, because technically we will always be the same person in a sense. However, positive change/maturation helps us transform into the people we are to eventually become. And we should be continue to live a more positive life each and every day to ensure that we become the very best person possible. Much like my reference in discussion of transforming from an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly :P
ReplyDeleteSo a decent question I've come up with is: After we transform into the person we are fated to become, do the past memories still make up who our future selves are, and have an impact? Or was that just a specific phase of who we once were?
i think our past memories do make up who we are today. all of our memories are life lessons that we learn from each day whether its good or bad.
DeleteOf course past memories still make up your future selves. It may be your past but it will always be apart of you whether you like it or not. you cant just hide or forget the past memories like they never happend just because you've moved on to the future.
ReplyDelete